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A quarter of men in some parts of Asia admit to rape

IT’S a much bigger problem than you might think. A new study reveals the breadth of sexual violence in some countries. A tenth of 10,000 men asked in six countries (Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea) admitted raping a woman other than a partner. Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea emerged as possibly the most dangerous place for women – nearly 27 per cent of men quizzed there admitted such rapes. The overall figure across the countries rose to a quarter when rape of a partner was included.

The results, out this week (The Lancet, doi.org/nrd and doi.org/nrf), are an invaluable guide to factors motivating rape, says study author Emma Fulu of Partners for Prevention, a UN programme to tackle gender-based violence.

Of those who had raped, 58 per cent first did so in their teens.

“People begin committing these acts while quite young, so education programmes need to target them,” said Scott Berkowitz, of the US Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.